Two Down, Two Acrossing
by Kazu Darktoro
Summary: Two oneshot stories Fluff ; KairixSora & NaminexRoxas . Kairi and Sora go to the mall to shop, but wind up watching the sunset together. Namine and Roxas go to get some ice cream, and Namine gives Roxas something special.
1. Rainy Romance

Chapter 1: Rainy Romance

The irony of today, Kairi decided, was the storm on the horizon. She noticed it out her bedroom window as she walked out of the shower in her favorite red towel. "If only those two could see me now, huh?" She said to herself, twirling in her full body mirror. The towel accentuated her moderate curves, and it made her blush to think of either of them walking in on her like this. Riku wouldn't think anything of it, but Sora... Well, Sora had never seen a boob in his life, as far as she knew. He'd be totally flustered. He'd been awkward around her ever since they'd gotten home to Destiny Islands. How many times had Kairi pouted at him, dropped him hints, hugged him simply because he was there? She shivered, took one last look in the mirror, and finally started to dress. Kairi had never been a fashionista, but she owned some admittedly _nice_ clothes. From the outfits she would wear as a child with Sora and Riku, to the tiny articles she began to slip into to show off her blossoming figure... And her adventurous pink dress, alluring and yet slightly spunky with its many zippers. 

Kairi's figure flowed into a full crimson dress that came to her ankles, pulling the zipper in the back and slipping the straps over her shoulders. In all, she thought it looked very nice. She still never felt right wearing fabric dresses, or anything that covered her silky thighs. She wasn't really seductive-- or even intentionally sexual in her miniskirts and tiny clothes. Perhaps it was simply that her heart had not grown up as fast as her body, and her fashion reflected her refusal to admit she was getting near young adulthood. Wearing grown-up clothes made her feel like a child playing dress-up, but today was special. 

She was taking Sora downtown on their very first date, where she was going to take him shopping for some _normal_ clothes. She thought back to when the idea had come up... 

_ When she told him about his fashion sense, he said loudly, "What do you mean? My clothes are normal!" She crossed her arms, watching him. "Sora, most people don't have magical clothes that change colors like a human christmas light." Oh no, he interrupted, "That's what they're for, though! And it's not random, I control it usually..." She sighed audibly, poking at the sand with her shoe. "So if we were out and you randomly changed into a Heartless... thing, I'm supposed to wait until it wears off?" He opened his mouth to speak several times, found nothing, and said quietly; "Just... don't make me wear pink, okay." _

So that had been that. 

Kairi took her blue plaid umbrella on her way out the door, since she didn't expect Sora to have his own. "He's hopeless without me..." she said, giggling. 

When she finally reached Destiny Town's shopping centre, she saw him leaning against the sign which read 'Welcome to Destiny Islands! Number 1 Vacation Destination In The World!' She thought to herself: _In this world, maybe... _

Sora smiled widely as she approached. "Hey, Kair--" A clap of thunder interrupted him, and made Kairi nearly jump five feet as she buried her face into his jacket. "S-scared me half to death!" She said, heart racing. She looked up from his jacket, suddenly aware how awkward she was being. She stepped back a foot, smoothing her dress out embarassedly. "Sorry." Sora shook his head, ever forgiving, ever casual. "No worries. You uh... you look really nice, Kairi." She blushed and smiled. "So you noticed." she said slyly. He pouted. "Well of course I did! I hardly get to see you these days because of all the homework we've been getting." He laughed. "Now I know how Hayner and the gang felt." Kairi laughed too. "Yeah, and they had to do it during the _summer._" More bubbly, innocent laughter. Kairi placed her hands behind her back and said, "It's gonna rain later." Sora nodded. "But you didn't bring an umbrella, did you, silly?" He didn't nod this time. "I knew it. Well, I bought a big one for both of us, kay?" He looked a little relieved. He hadn't even noticed the sky this morning-- He'd been pacing and worrying and had even phoned Riku. 

_"Riku, what do you do on dates?" Sora asked. "Are you kidding?" the sarcastic silver haired youth had responded. "No, I'm totally NOT kidding!" He said, red in his cheeks. "I do whatever I want." Sora heard him supressing laughter. "But it's different for me, Sora." _

_"Why?" _

_"..." _

_"What?" _

_"Sora, if you don't want me to be annoyed that _you're _going on a date with Kairi, at least tell me you know how to kiss a girl." Sora raised an eyebrow. "Why does that matter?" Riku sighed. Loudly. "Sora, you do know what the difference between dating and hanging out is, right?" _

_"Uh..." _

_"...Okay spaz, you know what? I'm not a qualified matchmaker. Figure it out as you go. Trust me, it's easy enough for even you to figure out. Just keep in mind that dating means being more than friends. You lucky idiot."_

Riku had been busy with guitar classes later that day, leaving Sora to his own, guileless devices. 

Kairi waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Earth to Sora... Don't space out on me." He twitched, shook his head and smiled at her. "Sorry, I've been so distracted this morning. Before we go shopping, do you want to eat something, Kairi?" She nodded, and they walked into the mall. It wasn't overly fancy, or even very big-- Besides the outlandish fashions, Destiny Town was mainly famous for the ocean views and sunny days almost all year round. They walked to the juice bar, and Sora bought them two passion fruit smoothies and a couple muffins. They sat down nearby, the dim food court lights shining on them as the rain pattered against the far glass windows at the back of the mall. Sora said nothing as he watched her, graceful, clean, pure... the more he watched her, the harder it was to deny that Kairi _was_ a Princess of Heart... One of the seven pure maidens that were capable of opening the portal to the center of all worlds. _Kingdom Hearts... Kairi is a piece of the way to Kingdom Hearts._ Most guys, undoubtedly, would do anything to be as close to a girl like Kairi as Sora or Riku were. But perhaps it was Sora's innocence that had drawn him just that much closer to the 'Princess'. She was modest, and despite not quite understanding what all the heck was going on in Hollow Bastion, she'd protected Sora. Her heart had the power to heal darkness, and the unspoken bond that she and Sora had developed in those frightening seconds continued even now, as they sat in a cramped little cafe eating snacks and just laughing and talking about nothing in particular. 

"I love you," Kairi said suddenly, before blushing and looking away. Sora blinked-- As children they had said it plenty, even Riku had admitted he loved them both as dear friends. But they were older now. The word had so much more impact. But Sora had never grown up much since his young days. Part of that immaturity undoubtedly came from spending an entire year of his young life in a pod, watching his broken, shattered mind being painstakingly remade. So it was with no hesitation that Sora responded in a confused tone, "I... love you too, Kairi. You know that." Kairi's smile faded a bit. "Sora, this... I love you in a stronger way, now. I don't know how to explain it." Sora couldn't find the words to explain how perplexed he was. Riku had dated girls before, and he'd never mentioned loving any of them... He racked his brain, desperate not to mess this up. What was the difference between true friendship and true love? He still couldn't grasp it... 

Kairi broke the silence again. "I have something I wanna show you." she said quietly. This made Sora blush, if only because of things Riku had told him about on days when it had just been the two of them. What girls showed Riku when they really liked him. Sora's face was going red. He really hoped Kairi wasn't going to show him any of the things he'd heard about. They sounded totally embarassing. "Oh, but clothes-- oh forget it. Come on, Sora." Kairi sat up, finishing her smoothie rather hastily, which earned her nothing but momentary brain freeze. "Nnnh... ow, that hurts! Can't they make non-cold smoothies, geez!" She grabbed Sora's hand, and he grabbed his own drink hastily as she opened her umbrella and pulled them into the light spring rain. 

As he followed Kairi wherever she was going, Sora felt like time had slowed. The rain fell so slowly he wanted to weave a path through the raindrops with his hand. The sun, barely visible through the storm, still cast pale rays that reflected through each of the sky's tears. A minute and a year could have passed, but Sora noticed it all in the short gap between the mall and the 'clang' as Kairi said, "Shoot! It's closed..." The noise of the her hands hitting the gate brought Sora out of his personal world. The rain resumed falling lazily. "Whoa..." The Keybearer said blankly. Kairi turned to him. She showed him that she was heading to the Destiny Town Park Plaza, but the gate to the hill that looked over the town was currently locked. The padlock sat quietly. Kairi looked disappointed, but Sora, without even looking (perhaps out of habit) just summoned the Oathkeeper and pointed it at the lock, which promptly vanished in a flash of light. The chains fell and the gate opened. 

Neither said too much about it as they climbed the hill to look over the town. For either of them to even bother saying "That Keyblade sure is useful" or "Lucky for us huh" would really be sort of insensitive-- All three agreed that even though everything had been Xehanort's fault, the Keyblades had brought nothing but problems to the universe. Riku hadn't even looked at or summoned his Keyblade since defeating Xemnas. The same could be said for Sora, though he found it useful for things here and there. (This had been one of the rare occasions.) As for Kairi, well, she'd never been properly trained and was never really fond of fighting to begin with. She'd given the keychain back to Riku and the flowery sword had vanished as magically as it had formed for her. Which was fine with everyone, really... the King had in fact collected the key chains from the three of them to continue sorting things out in the Realm of Darkness. Sora couldn't exactly say he was sorry to see the King go. Mickey's departure meant that things would calm down... and the loving friends would finally enjoy normal lives. 

Kairi smiled as she set out a blanket from her shoulder bag and sat against a tree trunk at the top of the hill. It watched over the town as the rain began to lighten... and as she and Sora sat and hugged one another, a rainbow cascaded over the sparkling sky. Some things didn't need to be expressed after all. They looked at each other, and Kairi kissed him on the cheek. "Nothing's changed, hm?" Sora asked cheerfully. "Nope." Kairi responded just as happily. She sighed and just nuzzled into his jacket. After a few moments, she whispered; 

"Nothing will." 

Sora patted her ruby-red hair and whispered, "Hakuna matata." 


	2. Love Data

Chapter 2: Love Data

Roxas knew the rain was coming. _She'd_ drawn it earlier, and lo, the clouds had gathered. Her powers had begun to do unusual things since she had reconnected with Kairi. But Namine never seemed to mind. She was very calm and very used to going with the flow, as it were. As Roxas waited outside the mall for her, a lot of things came to mind then. He missed Axel, for one... His only friend really. But Axel, unlike Roxas, had 'died'. He could bring Axel back, supposedly... Sora had mentioned being to a lab in Radiant Garden where Roxas might be able to encode Axel's appearance and personality data into a Dusk, but... that would null Axel's valiant sacrifice. And besides, Axel's data memory only went up to a certain point. 

All this thinking was bugging him anyways. He shivered, pulled his hooded cloak closer around himself. Wouldn't she get here soon? As if answering the thought, he heard "Roxas!" in her shy, timid voice. She rarely spoke above a whisper, but the rain had started, making her hard to hear. She was wearing a white dress which now covered her legs, with a a v-neck which was actually very bold for her. She was carrying a blue plaid umbrella. "Namine..." he said meekly, raising a hand in greeting. She ran up, blue eyes sparkling. "My prediction was right ag--" CRACK went the thunder as she squeaked loudly, nearly tripping into him as he darted out and caught her. "I wasn't expecting it!" She said weakly. Roxas helped her stand up straight. Namine noticed the sign Roxas had been obscuring as the two walked inside. _Welcome to Twilight Town! _

She smiled. If one thing had gone right for the two, it had been Roxas' return to his Twilight Town. It was data, surely, but it was a world _made_ just for him. All of Ansem's data had compiled Namine and Roxas back into the program upon the two reclaiming their hearts and becoing complete again. The two were confused, yes, but... this world would go on forever. It was perfect for them... and they never wanted to leave. 

As Roxas and Namine entered the shopping centre, the witch spotted an ice cream vendor. She'd never actually had one before, which wasn't surprising. And so, despite being entirely satisfied with never having another ice cream for the rest of his life, Roxas decided one more with his girlfriend wouldn't hurt. He paid for two of them and held out the second for Namine. She took it graciously. "Thanks, Roxas." He sighed and flopped down in a nearby chair. "It's no big deal." She smiled at him. "I guess so. But thanks anyways." He raised an eye to meet her gaze, smiling as he licked it absently. She tentatively licked hers, and her wide eyes sparkled again. "This is delicious!" He laughed. "Try eating them every day for an entire summer. The taste gets old fast..." She gave him a small low laugh; "_Hmhmhm_" 

Roxas had never known how to deal with feeling whole; he supposed part of being whole was being able to enjoy the melodic tone of Namine's voice, the way she always held her hands together when she laughed. She was a flower that had blossomed after nearly two years in the darkness of Castle Oblivion. He didn't like thinking about Oblivion though, or its owner-- Marluxia. She never spoke of Marluxia but when Oblivion came up, her face would go very red and her hair would fall into her eyes. Once, and only once since being released from the castle, had she spoken of The Graceful Assassin, and a good few tears had leaked through her resolve at his name. But none of it mattered anymore. They had gotten to meet their original selves; been allowed to become whole. They had hearts, they could smile, laugh, cry. Neither felt or acted entirely different, but everything they did suddenly had emotion and purpose. They approached life hand-in-hand with renewed vigor. 

Namine chewed on the popsicle as she showed Roxas her newest sketches. "You're getting better every day, Namine." he said politely. She really wasn't, she would never get any better at drawing, he suspected. But she loved to draw and he loved her pictures, even if some were good and most were sort of bad. Namine had made good friends with Olette, who happened to be a good artist as well, so maybe she would get better. Only time would tell. 

All too soon the ice cream was gone and the chatter died. Namine placed her hands in her lap and said quietly, "Oh, I got something for you. And look; the rain is clearing up." 

And so it was. "So let's get out of here," he said, stretching. "This place is cramped." She agreed, and they left the mall. Once they were outside, Namine walked the winding streets holding Roxas' hand. "Hey, do you want to get on top of the clock tower? To give me whatever you had for me." She blinked. "Oh, that's a wonderful idea." He smiled warmly. "I'll help you get up with me then." 

Once her feet were dangling over the edge, Namine got scared and clung to Roxas' black cloak tightly. "I didn't realize how high up it was, Roxas..." He held onto her. "It's okay, I've got you. What did you want to show me so badly?" "Ah... I..." She took a small box from her pocket. "I found this in my roo-- in the White Room in the mansion. Unfortunately, it's locked..." He waved a hand, plain white Kingdom Key appearing in his hand. He stood back as Namine placed the box on the ground. Pointing his key at the box, it floated, sparkling with light as it suddenly clicked and sprung open. 

Inside was a good luck charm shaped like a paopu fruit. She felt a pang of guilt for the Replica, but... she reached out, plucking it from the air and handing it to him. "This is ... yours, Roxas." He looked at it and smiled. "Thanks, Namine." She blushed, and muttered something as he attached the charm to his Keyblade. 

A shining light radiated from it as it became a beautiful slender key, pure white and elegant. Yellow wings created a hilt around the handle. As he looked at the paopu dangling there, he saw the name along the side. 

Inscripted into the blade was one word; 

_Eternal._


End file.
